Investors interested in Business Services stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. Has Esco Technologies (ESE) been one of those stocks this year? By taking a look at the stock’s year-to-date performance in comparison to its Business Services peers, we might be able to answer that question.
Esco Technologies is one of 248 companies in the Business Services group. The Business Services group currently sits at #11 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different groups, measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the sector to gauge the strength of each group.
The Zacks Rank is a proven model that highlights a variety of stocks with the right characteristics to outperform the market over the next one to three months. The system emphasizes earnings estimate revisions and favors companies with improving earnings outlooks. Esco Technologies is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ESE’s full-year earnings has moved 2% higher. This means that analyst sentiment is stronger and the stock’s earnings outlook is improving.
Based on the latest available data, ESE has gained about 36.6% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Business Services sector has returned an average of -8.3% on a year-to-date basis. This means that Esco Technologies is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.
Another Business Services stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is FirstCash Holdings (FCFS). The stock has returned 38.1% year-to-date.
For FirstCash Holdings, the consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 4.9% over the past three months. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking more specifically, Esco Technologies belongs to the Technology Services industry, a group that includes 122 individual stocks and currently sits at #159 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 12.8% this year, meaning that ESE is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, FirstCash Holdings falls under the Financial Transaction Services industry. Currently, this industry has 37 stocks and is ranked #158. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -3.6%.
Going forward, investors interested in Business Services stocks should continue to pay close attention to Esco Technologies and FirstCash Holdings as they could maintain their solid performance.